Thunder Bay – SPORTS – Lakehead’s men’s basketball defeated the Waterloo Warriors on Friday evening by a score of 75-64. Lakehead moves to 7-12 and their win streak grows to four games. They are now one of three teams in the OUA with 7-12 records, with Lakehead owning the best +/- scoring margin. Waterloo drops to 3-16 after their 9th-straight loss.
“Tonight’s game against Waterloo certainly wasn’t the prettiest,” Thunderwolves coach Ryan Thomson said. “But it was another character builder—we had to fight through a pretty slow start and some early foul trouble.”
Lakehead finished the first quarter with an 18-12 lead, but the margin had dwindled to 36-32 by half. The Thunderwolves picked up 8 fouls in the first half, finishing with 18. Waterloo had 19 fouls at the final buzzer.
The Thunderwolves were led by Isaiah Traylor’s 20 points and 5 rebounds, and Lock Lam’s 8 points, 20 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Davarius Wright added 13 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
Waterloo fought back in the third quarter, scoring 20 points to Lakehead’s 12. The Warriors’ Justin Malnerich, who finished with 27, scored 19 in the second half. The third quarter ended with Waterloo leading 52-48. The Thunderwolves put the pedal to the medal in the final period, however, closing out the game on a 27-12 run.
“I was happy with the way the guys stuck together down the stretch and showed their composure,” Thomson said.
The two squads face off again tomorrow, with an early tip time of 2 pm, following the women’s game.
“With a short turnaround,” Thomson said, “we need to take care of our bodies and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Basketball games are available via webcast courtesy of OUA.tv
